The overarching goals of this study were twofold: first, to learn how community
colleges are preparing students to flourish and contribute to a changing and global
economy, and second, how they address those students that do not make it through the
community college. Within this context, the researcher elected to perform a case study
of Tallahassee Community College (TCC), a college identified as focused on improving
student success and empowering students to reach their goals; and, committed to sharing
data and information across and throughout the institution. To achieve its ultimate goals,
this study had four specific purposes. First, it provided an in-depth account of the
development and implementation of the organizational vision and student success (learning and attainment) focus at TCC. Second, the study examined how the use of data
provided transparency and redirected the focus of TCC. Third, it examined how TCC’s
student learning portal is used by students, faculty, staff, administrators, and the board of
trustees. Finally, it considered how the findings may inform policy makers, institutional
leaders, and researchers about key factors impacting a student success focus. Taken in
concert, the study was designed to provide a contextual framework for implementing an
organizational vision focused on improving student success.
The study is a qualitative research designed case study informed by quantitative
data. The study included TCC serving as the unit of analysis for the entire case, and the
student learning portal serving as the unit of analysis for an embedded case study.
Qualitative methods employed included documents, archival records, interviews, focus
groups, and direct observations. Multiple approaches were used to present the case study
including a chronology of key historical events and a categorical or topical format based
on an inductive analysis of data. Eight themes emerged as contributing to the work of
the student success agenda: 1) leadership style of the president and the board
relationship, 2) the vision for student success, 3) transparency and open
communications, 4) strategic plan, 5) budget, 6) data and information technology, 7)
people and development, and 8) sustainability of the shared vision. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/6895 |
| Date | 05 February 2010 |
| Creators | Hellyer, Brenda Lang |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works. |
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